Date: 8/12
Time: 10 a.m.-12:25 p.m. (CDT)
Place: Jaguar Training Center
Practice attire: Uppers (helmets and shoulder pads)

Featured Offensive Player of the Day: Kent Foster, Jr., OL, Pell City, Ala.
-Offensive coordinator Major Applewhite on Foster: "Kent has never had a bad day in his life in my book, every day he's positive with a smile and energy and is ready to go for practice.  He has embraced everything from this coaching staff and his O-line coach since the first day we got here.  I feel that I see him most in the building, and he is someone who brings great intensity and passion for O-line play while understanding what we are trying to do as a program right now.  I appreciate the heck out of his work, his attitude and mentality every day, he has been a real positive force in our O-line room."

Featured Defensive Player of the Day: Darrell Luter Jr., Jr., CB, Hattiesburg, Miss.
-Defensive coordinator Corey Batoon on Luter: "Darrell has done a good job, he's really stepped up his game and has a really good summer preparing.  He's in a good place right now communicating and winning on top of routes, he's playing with a lot of confidence.  It's good to see how he has conducted himself thus far in practice.  As we start putting more volume in it will be interesting to see how he continues to grow and develop, but I really like where he is at right now in camp."

Play of the Day: On the first play of the red zone team period, Jake Bentley found Jalen Wayne along the back of the end zone who made the touchdown catch between two defenders.

Team period highlights: The two-hour session featured four team periods with the first focusing on elements of the run game, while the second 12-minute team period worked on the perimeter game. The third team period began with two series in the red zone working from inside the 20 and inside the 10 before transitioning to drive situations beginning at the offense's own 40-yard line. Team period four saw South run two series working on the two-minute drill to close out the day.

Miscellaneous Notes
-The practice was originally scheduled to be held at the James A. and Frances H. Football Practice Facility, but was moved to the Jaguar Training Center due to weather.
- A.J. DeShazor recorded three tackles within the first four plays of the opening team period. Of the 20 play calls during the 10-minute segment, all but two were run.
-The defense controlled the second team period as the unit finished the segment with three pass break ups, two sacks, a forced fumble and recovery and a quarterback hurry.
-The highlight of the period came when inside linebacker Jamal Brooks was able to knock a ball loose after a completed pass, that was then picked up and returned by CJ Rias.
-Rias, Atanza Vongor and Shawn Steele II were each credited with a pass break up.
-Jake Bentley and Tanner McGee combined to connect on their first 12 pass attempts during the 7-on-7 skeleton drill, with the duo starting the period 17-of-18 with three touchdowns.
-Four tight ends – Jacob Hopper, Trent Tyre, Cameron Hatcher-Owens and Lincoln Sefcik – recorded eight receptions with the latter also hauling in a 36-yard score from Bentley.
-Wayne also chipped in with a pair of scores on back-to-back plays inside the red zone during the drill.
-The Jaguar offense scored three times during the red zone portion of the third team period. In addition to Wayne's pass reception from Bentley on the first play, running backs Jared Wilson and Kareem Walker also had rushing touchdowns. The defensive unit was also credited with three tackles for loss during the early portion of the segment.
- During the field goal period, South worked on hurry-up, last-second field goal attempts where Diego Guajardo and Barret Pickering connected on all of their attempts from 39, 42 and 44 yards out.
-South Alabama also had two other special teams periods working with the kickoff unit and punt coverage unit.
-All practices are closed to the general public.

Head coach Kane Wommack
-On Thursday's practice: "There are days where as the head coach you want to try and create some adversity. These guys have been doing well and pushing through, but as we lead into our first scrimmage on Saturday, I let them know that today was going to be a hard day and that I was going to be harder on them. I thought that they handled that really well. It was a tough, physical practice. We created some adversity for them just for them to see and prove to themselves that they could overcome some things. Regardless of success or not when we face adversity, if we're able to keep a neutral mindset and move forward as a team, we're going to be successful. That's what I saw from our guys today."
-On the defense's performance: "We're doing some really creative stuff offensively. We've got some challenging route concepts and some tough things in the run game to deal with, and our defensive players are doing a nice job handling the volume of what our offense is giving us. We're executing on both sides of the ball. To me, what's exciting is that we don't have a lot of busts out on the field. When you can do that defensively and can execute consistently with some guys who can make some outstanding plays, that's usually the recipe for a good defense."
-On the back-up quarterbacks: "The challenge for both [Desmond Trotter and Tanner McGee] is to be consistent in executing our offense while taking care of the football. That's what we're starting to see from both of them. Myself and the rest of the offensive staff have been pleased with their production over the first six days here. We just want to see who separates themselves. Dez made some really good throws yesterday operating with the twos and Tanner got a two-minute situation along with a couple other situations where I thought he made some really good decisions with the ball. Both of their arm strength is getting better and better. To me, it's that fine line of creating explosive plays for our offense in the passing game, while at the same time managing things and taking care of the football. Both of those guys are doing a good job of that."
-On CJ Thompson: "CJ has a tremendous amount of athleticism. For whatever reason, he hasn't been able to stay healthy, but he's done a really good job this fall. He's really close with [Director of Football Athletic Performance] Matt Shadeed. They spent time this summer getting his body trained and ready, and he's holding up well. When he's able to do that and learn what we're doing from a schematic standpoint, like he did with his reps during the spring, he's now getting a chance to perform. I've been really pleased with some of the things he's shown thus far."
-On running back Kareem Walker in the two-minute offense: "Kareem's a bigger back and has an ability to protect, which is important in two-minute situations, but he's also pretty dynamic with the ball in his hands out of the backfield. He has nice hands and does a good job of stemming some of his routes. Those are some of the things you look for; you have to have a complete back when you get into those situational downs, and I think he has the capability of being one of those guys."
-On competition among the cornerbacks: "It's really competitive at that position. We're really fortunate to have a lot of long, levered players that can get their hands on people. When you're going against these receivers every day, every step and hand placement is a live and die situation. For our guys it's really good to see them in competition against one another fighting for starting and backup jobs against great competition from our wide receiver corps. To me, Darrell Luter Jr. has done a tremendous job from the spring to fall camp. Davyn Flenord continues to learn the game from a defensive perspective. He gets better and better out there in terms of what he's trying to do well. [Devon] Rockette can really run and do a lot of things. He's a more instinctive player. I'm pleased with what we're doing within that group; we just have to continue to do those things against high-level competition."

Up next: South Alabama will be back on the practice field Friday from 10 a.m.- noon at the Jaguar Training Center.

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